5 times Jerry Jones did things the Jerry Jones way

It’s been 25 years since Arkansas oilman Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys and, almost overnight, became one of the most controversial owners in professional sports. The franchise won three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons, but none in the 18 since. Still, Jones has kept America’s Team in the spotlight and turned his $170 million investment into a $2.1 billion franchise. On the 25th anniversary of his purchase, For The Win looks at five times when Jerry Jones was at his Jerry Jones-iest.

1. He bought the team and immediately fired legendary coach Tom Landry

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The first time Jones met Tom Landry was to fire him. On the same day his purchase of the team was finalized, Jones flew to Austin to fire the legendary Cowboys coach. At the time, Landry was third-winningest coach in NFL history, but had also presided over three-straight losing seasons, including a 3-13 record in 1988. There was no face-saving resignation and no celebration of Landry when he left. The coach was simply canned. Jones bought the team only because he wanted University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson to replace the two-time Super Bowl champion Landry.

At the time he was fired, Landry was 64, two years older than Pete Carroll is now.

2. The Herschel Walker trade

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Six games into his first season as Cowboys owner, Jones pulled the trigger on one of the biggest deals in NFL history, shipping 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five players, six conditional draft choices and a 1992 first-round pick. Through more trades, that haul would turn into Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, Russell Maryland and other vital parts of the team’s three Super Bowl wins.

3. Sued for $300 million by the NFL, he countersues for $750 million

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Jones went around the NFL’s famed revenue sharing model by signing stadium, not team, deals with Pepsi and Nike. This upset the NFL, which sued him for $300 million. Jones countersued for $750 million.

At the time, Jerry Jones was being fashioned as the Al Davis of the 1990s. The discontent was perfectly summed up in this Sports Illustrated article by Richard Hoffer, written on Sept. 18, 1995 after Jones signed Deion Sanders and announced the exclusive Nike deal during Monday Night Football with Phil Knight and Monica Seles at his side.

“There hasn’t been this much alarm around the NFL since Al Davis tried to move the Raiders to an Irwindale, Calif., gravel pit. Jones pumps up cash flow a bit and, because he can’t help himself, gives his fellow owners a little hotfoot at the same time. That’s all. And it’s the end of Western civilization? ‘He’s trying to tear down this league, goddammit!’ screams Cleveland Brown owner Art Modell, one of the league’s patriarchs, from his car phone.”

Both suits were dropped one year later, as the NFL eventually saw that Jones’ local revenue sharing model was a boon for all (though a bigger one for the most popular franchises).

4. After two Super Bowl wins, he feuded with Jimmy Johnson and let him walk

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After the Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls, Dallas wasn’t big enough for the egos of both Jones and Jimmy Johnson. Their sniping began during the ’94 season, when Johnson complained about Jones wanting all the credit for building the team. Then, before a major December game against the New York Giants, Johnson suggested he might leave Dallas to coach the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars.

Things came to a head in March of ’95 when Jones was quoted, in a conversation he says he thought was off the record, about how he should have fired Johnson and brought in Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer. “There are 500 coaches who could have won the Super Bowl with our team,” Jones said.

On March 29, Johnson resigned (with a bonus from Jones), Switzer was hired and, indeed, one of those “500 coaches” won a Super Bowl before things inevitably soured.

Jones got mocked, but not as bad as Anderson. Yeah, like if your father-in-law were the owner of a billion-dollar team, you wouldn’t be down to wipe away some smudges. Shoot, that’s just the gentlemanly thing to do for your elders anyway.

It’s been 25 years since Arkansas oilman Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys and, almost overnight, became one of the most (…)

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